


All The Way

by hma1313



Series: The Soulmate AUs [3]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Famous Ian, M/M, Singer Ian, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 08:04:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6365926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hma1313/pseuds/hma1313
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ian Gallagher has it all. Successful music career, thousands of fans, a loving (if slightly dysfunctional) family – but there’s one thing missing.<br/>His soulmate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All The Way

**Author's Note:**

> Or: I wrote a matching numbers soulmate AU.

When Ian was five, he told Fiona he wanted to be a singer.

“Sure,” his older sister had laughed. “Whatever you want to be, I guess.”

At ten, he won the school talent competition.

At fifteen, he spent his spare time in the basement, making recordings of his songs on an old, crappy laptop, posting them online in the hope he would one day get noticed.

At eighteen, his dream came true, and less than three months later he was headlining sold out gigs all across the country. He became famous overnight, and suddenly everyone wanted to hear from this teenager who’d grown up in the south side of Chicago, dedicating any moment he had to making his dream come true.

Something was missing from Ian’s life, though. Now twenty-two, he watched as his siblings started to find their soulmates, settling down and starting families together, and he wanted all of that, he really did. He just hadn’t found them yet. He supposed he was one of the unlucky ones – some people simply never found their soulmates, or found them too late when they’d already married someone else to fill the space in their life that their soulmate would have perfectly slotted into. Still, Ian clung onto the hope that one day, he’d find the person he’d been looking for all along.

Fiona said you just knew when you met your soulmate. “It’s really weird,” she said. “You’ll never have met them before and then they’ll just be there in front of you and you’re like, holy shit. You’re the person I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with.” The six numbers that were inked into everyone’s wrists matched their soulmate, but before you even compared tattoos, there was just this feeling that this person was part of you, and you were part of them. “It’s truly magical, it really is. There’s nothing else like it.”

* * *

Mickey Milkovich was perhaps the last person you’d expect to find in the VIP line of an Ian Gallagher concert. He was surrounded by teenage girls, all excitedly texting their friends and taking selfies, all wearing stupidly tight t-shirts with Ian’s face printed on them. He had this weird feeling in his chest, but he put it down to nerves – he’d been a fan of Ian’s for years, not that he’d ever admit it. Call it a guilty pleasure or whatever, but as soon as he’d heard Ian was playing a gig in his hometown, he’d called in a few favours and managed to get himself VIP tickets.

“Oh my God, Cherry, what if he’s my soulmate?” some girl in front of him squealed. “Could you imagine?”

Mickey rolled his eyes. Ian had been clear from the beginning of his music career that he was gay, and Mickey seriously doubted he was suddenly going to change his sexual orientation because of some girl who’d gone overboard on the glitter lip gloss for a meet and greet. No one knew what Ian’s numbers were, which was a sensible move – it never failed to surprise Mickey what crazed fangirls would do to get close to their idol. Ian was always wearing long sleeves or bracelets to cover his numbers, and carefully avoided questions about his soulmate in interviews, which led most to believe he hadn’t met his soulmate yet, whoever they were.

The line was moving into the venue. The security guards eyed him suspiciously as Mickey handed over his ticket to be scanned, but let him through without any hassle. They were in a room, then, where they were handed tour t-shirts and posters and VIP wristbands, before being ushered into a straight line for photos.

Mickey didn’t need to be looking to tell when Ian walked into the room. There was a sudden shrill scream from the hundred other fans in the room, and the feeling in Mickey’s chest got tighter, and he started to feel really hot. He better not be coming down with something – he didn’t want Ian Gallagher’s lasting memory to be of him passing out waiting in line to meet him.

Mickey was near the back of the line, and it was moving unbearably slowly. He looked around, and he was glad to see he wasn’t the only guy in line, but the other ones were so obviously gay it was almost unbelievable – Mickey was sure he recognised at least two of them as being dancers in Boystown – or had been dragged there as a long suffering parent as under sixteens had to be accompanied by an adult.

There were less than five people in front of Mickey now. Ian’s bright red hair seemed even more impressive in person and highlighted by strategically placed lights, and he had obviously been working out, because Jesus fucking Christ, those arms in that shirt –

“Next!”

Mickey was being pushed forward towards Ian Gallagher, being told to put his stuff on the chair there, being told that he got five photos and they would be emailed to him shortly after the concert, and no inappropriate touching or else he’d be kicked out the venue.

He walked the ten paces towards Ian, feeling even more nervous than before. Ian looked up, caught his eye, smiled and –

Holy shit.

“Fucking hell,” he heard Ian mutter, because yeah, that pretty much summed it up.

Ian Gallagher was his soulmate?

What the fuck was his life?

* * *

_It’s truly magical, it really is._

Ian couldn’t describe what he was feeling right now. It was this pull from deep inside of him, telling him to reach out and _touch_ and _discover_. He wanted to know every inch of this guy in front of him, what made him scream and beg for more, what he looked like when he slept, what his skin would feel like against Ian’s own –

“I’m Mickey,” the guy said. Mickey. “286686, right?”

And there they were, those six numbers, inked into Mickey’s wrist. Ian took off the bracelet that was obscuring his numbers and showed Mickey his wrist, Mickey who he’d only met a matter of moments ago but who he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with, Mickey who –

“Hey, we taking these photos or not?” the photographer asked. “We haven’t got all day.”

“Sorry,” Ian murmured, throwing a casual arm around Mickey and turning to face the camera, “I never thought I’d have to deal with this like this, you know?”

“Yeah,” Mickey replied. “The feeling’s mutual, Gallagher.”

The camera flashed a few times and the security guards were all ready to push Mickey away from Ian and into next room which led to the concert hall, but Ian held up a hand to stop them. “Listen,” he said, taking the bracelet that had been obscuring his numbers and tying it onto Mickey wrist, “The tour bus is around the back of the venue, okay? Meet me there after the show. I’ll let security know.”

“See ya,” Mickey muttered, picking up his things from the chair and walking through the doors into the next room.  The venue was huge, one of the biggest indoor concert venues in the city, and was slowly starting to fill with people. The doors for general admission didn’t open for another half an hour, but Mickey wanted to make sure he got a good spot near the middle of the stage when Ian would be sure to see him, so he made his way over to the barrier and took up position, gently running his fingers over the bracelet that Ian had given him, smiling stupidly to himself.

Who would’ve thought that his soulmate would turn out to be an internationally famous singer?

* * *

The concert was incredible, Ian sounded a thousand times better live than he did on recordings. He kept shooting Mickey smiles throughout the entire set, catching his eye and grinning. Mickey smiled back and it felt like Ian was singing for him and him alone, not the thousands of other people also in the room.

By the time Mickey got out of the venue, he was exhausted from spending two hours jumping around to Ian’s music and all he really wanted to do was go home and sleep, but at the same time, he wanted to see Ian again. So he found himself walking around the back of the venue, where there were some very eager fans who maybe hadn’t been able to afford the VIP package standing clutching their phones waiting for the stage door to open.

Mickey lit up a cigarette and stood leaning against the corner of the building, far enough away from the fans that it didn’t seem like he was with them, but close enough that it didn’t seem like he was lurking around the back of the concert venue when he shouldn’t be.

“You Mickey?”

Some security guard was standing in front of him, arms folded and looking thoroughly bored. “Depends who’s askin’.”

“Ian.”

“Then yeah.”

“Show me your wrist.”

“The fuck for?”

The security guard rolled his eyes, pulling Mickey’s arm toward him and pushing his jacket and the bracelet Ian had given him out of the way. He was looking at his numbers, Mickey realised. It was a fail-safe way to know if he actually was who he said he was.

“Come with me.”

Mickey followed the guard over to the black tour bus parked at the back of the lot. This was still all so surreal, Mickey thought. When he’d left home that afternoon he thought he was just going to meet his favourite artist in person, see them in concert, come home again. It had never crossed his mind that Ian Gallagher might be his fucking soulmate. That was something right out of a fanfiction – not that he’d ever read any, of course.

“Half an hour,” the security guard grunted as he opened the door of the bus. “They’ve got to be on the road again soon.”

“Sure,” Mickey replied, climbing onto the bus.

* * *

There weren’t many words exchanged.

After Ian had put his number into Mickey’ phone, telling him that “you’d better fucking call me”, making conversation hadn’t been on the forefront of either of their minds. Instead, clothes had been discarded on the floor, hands had wandered and discovered, fingers tracing delicate lines and finding out what made the other shiver in pleasure, and the kisses had been desperate and delicate all at the same time.

It was different, Ian concluded, being with your soulmate. He’d fucked plenty of guys in the past but with Mickey every feeling felt heightened, everything more pleasurable than he’d ever experienced before. They seemed to find a rhythm that worked for them both almost instantly, and Ian wasn’t surprised when he found that his body slotted perfectly together with Mickey’s.

He never wanted to have sex with anyone else ever again.

“I love you,” Ian murmured. “You’d better call me.”

* * *

Mickey didn’t call.

He texted instead, because it was less risky and meant no one would find out what was going unless they got hold of his phone.

Except Mandy noticed, because of course she fucking did.

“What’s his name?” she asked over breakfast one morning, about a week after the concert.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” Mickey muttered, attacking his bacon with more force than was strictly necessary. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out, smiling when he saw a text from Ian on screen.

“Whoever’s got you smiling like that every time you get a text. Seriously, who is he?”

**Messages with: Ian**

**> >you doing anything on the 22nd?**

“Some guy I met last week.”

**< <nothing, why?**

“Just some guy? Or is it something more than that?”

**> >my last show is in NYC that night. Want to come?**

“He… he’s my soulmate, Mands.”

**< <I’d love to but I don’t think I can afford it**

“Shit! You met your soulmate? Why didn’t you tell me, asshole?”

**> >Your flight’s already booked**

**> >1st class and everything**

**< <Don’t wanna take your money like that**

**> >Mick I haven’t got anything else to spend it on and I’ve got more money that I know what to do with please just let me spoil you**

“Didn’t seem that important.”

“Didn’t seem that important? You met your fucking soulmate, Mickey! That’s huge! What’s his name?”

**< <well if you insist**

“Ian.”

**> >I do insist**

**> >see you on the 22nd x**

“Ian what?”

“Gallagher.”

Mandy went silent as she ate a forkful of scrambled eggs. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“Because he’s an internationally famous solo artist, originally from the south side of Chicago who’s sold millions of records and just keeps getting bigger and bigger.”

“Shit, seriously? That Ian Gallagher?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait,” Mandy said slowly. “How did you meet him, then?”

Mickey shifted in his chair. Mandy wasn’t aware that he was Ian Gallagher Trash #1. No one was, really. It wasn’t something he shouted about. “VIP meet and greet at his show last week.”

“I didn’t know you were a fan.” Mandy struggled to keep the smile from her face as she processed the news that her brother not only listened to Ian Gallagher, but had also forked out well over $100 for VIP tickets to a show. “I think that’s more of a surprise that you being his soulmate.”

“Yeah, well, whatever,” Mickey muttered, getting up and dumping his plate in the sink. “He’s flying me out to his last show in New York on the 22nd.”

“Lucky you. Hey, you reckon you could get tickets next time he’s in town?”

“Yeah, probably. And Mandy?”

“Yeah?”

“Not a word of this to anyone.”

* * *

The twenty second was one hell of a day.

Ian dropped a new single, All The Way, completely unannounced at midnight, and it was at the top of the iTunes chart almost instantly. Mickey downloaded it right before he headed to the airport, grateful that he actually had money on his iTunes account for once, and listened to it for the entire flight to New York.

Flying in first class was an experience unlike anything Mickey had ever been through before. The air hostesses basically treated him like royalty, checking if he was comfortable and if they could get him anything to eat or drink at regular intervals. Mickey naturally made use of this, and drank top shelf whiskey like it was tap water, and ate enough of the complementary food that he was sure he wouldn’t have to eat for at least three days.

By the time the plane touched down in New York, Mickey was his regretting his decision on the whiskey front, and the first thing he did once he got through security and found the taxi driver holding the “MILKOVICH” sign was buy a bottle of water. The ride to the concert venue, Madison Square Garden, took longer than Mickey had expected, which left Mickey feeling irritated and partly wishing he’d asked if Mandy could come along too.

He was ushered inside the venue quickly – there were already kids waiting outside and Mickey had to tell himself sternly that he’d been provided with a security guard for a reason and he shouldn’t make a fuss about it. In the main hall, sound check was going on, Ian’s backup band playing a few chords and then insisting that the sound technicians change the balance by the tiniest little bit.

Backstage, Ian was in his dressing room, finalising the set list. Against his manager’s wishes, he was putting All The Way in the encore – his manager hadn’t wanted him to play it at all, said he should stick to his more famous tracks, but Ian had effectively told him where to go and said it was his concert and therefore he was going to sing whatever he wanted. Ian also wanted to play All The Way because it was a song about Mickey, and as Mickey was here tonight, he was goddamn going to play it.

There was a knock on his door, and Mickey walked in.

“Hey,” he said. He crossed the room and pulled Ian into a hug, which quickly turned to kissing, which then quickly turned into Ian undoing Mickey’s belt and jeans, sliding his hand past his waistband as he kissed down the side of Mickey’s neck.

“Hey, Ian, Fiona and everyone is here – _Jesus Christ, learn to lock a door_!”

“Learn to fucking knock on a door, Lip!” Ian snapped back, withdrawing his hand from Mickey’s boxers. “Give us five minutes, yeah?”

“What, so you can finish jerking each other off? I don’t think so. You’ve got two.”

“Who was that?” Mickey asked after the guy, Lip or whatever, had left and slammed the door behind him.

“My brother and my manager, Lip,” Ian replied. “My other siblings are here tonight as well. Sorry to dump this all on you like this.”

“It’s alright,” Mickey said. “They’re your family, I’ve got to meet them at some point. Why not now?”

* * *

 They all have dinner together at a pizza place down the block, and Mickey found himself getting on relatively well with Ian’s family. He found out that the Gallagher household in Chicago where Ian grew up and where Fiona and his younger siblings still live is only a few blocks away from his own house. Debbie asked to see their matching numbers, and what it was like when they first met, Carl asked if it was true that Lip had walked in on them before they’d gone out for dinner, and Lip spent the entirety of the meal eyeing Mickey with suspicion.

“He’s a Milkovich, Ian,” Lip said as Ian was warming up before the show and Mickey was sat with the rest of the Gallaghers in the premium seats. “He’s trouble.”

“He’s my fucking soulmate, Lip,” Ian countered. “I don’t care about that. I love him, okay?”

“You met him all of two weeks ago, how can you say that?”

“Meet your soulmate and you’ll see what I mean,” Ian shrugged. “Now get out. I need to finish warming up.”

* * *

Ian could hear the crowd screaming. The lights had just gone down, and the orchestral introduction was playing through the speakers. The mantra of “Ian! Ian! Ian!” could be heard above the screaming and the music playing – it never ceased to amaze him how many people genuinely wanted to come out and see him perform, and there was about 18,000 out there all waiting for him to go onstage.

The final chords were going down in the introduction, the technicians were double and triple checking his microphone and in-ear pieces were working, and Ian was onstage, singing the first song in his set.

It was one of the best nights on tour by far, which Ian felt had a lot to do with the fact that he knew his soulmate was in the audience. Every note he sang was perfect, the crowd was loving every minute, the ones on the floor jumping up and down and the ones in the seats were having just as much fun. He could see Mickey from the stage, and even though there were thousands of others in the crowd, it felt like he was singing everything for him.

The concert seemed to fly by, and far too soon, Ian was off stage waiting for the cue to go back on for the encore. The crowd were yelling his name again, and Ian was frantically gulping down a bottle of water because it got so hot underneath all those lights and when you were walking all around the stage.

“Alright, New York,” Ian said when he was back onstage and about to sing the last song of the night. “This last one is dedicated to someone very special to me. You see, New York, I met my soulmate at my show in my hometown of Chicago a few weeks ago. So, Mickey, number 286686, this one’s for you. This is All The Way.”

 _First time I saw you, I knew right away_  
_Made up my mind, you would be mine someday_  
_You know I need you, so don't turn away_  
_'Cause at the end of the day, I'll be alright_  
_Still I'm praying that you'll change your mind_  
_I'll be okay_  
_'Cause you'll come around eventually_  
  
_Hey-hey-hey_  
_When I love someone, I'm loving all the way_  
_Hey-hey-hey_  
_You know I'm the one to take you all the way_  
  
_I know you hold back but just let it go,_  
_'Cause I just won't stand to watch you walk alone,_  
_Don't be afraid, you're not on your own_  
_As long as you know we'll be alright_  
_Still I'm praying that you change your mind,_  
_I'll be okay_  
_'Cause you'll come around eventually_  
  
_Hey-hey-hey_  
_When I love someone, I'm loving all the way_  
_Hey-hey-hey_  
_You know I'm the one to take you all the way_  
  
_(Oh oh ooh oh oh ooh)_  
_(Oh oh ooh oh oh ooh)_  
  
_I told you_  
_When I love someone, I love them all the way_  
_Hey-hey-hey_  
_You know I'm the one to take you all the way_  
  
_Hey-hey-hey_  
_When I love someone, I'm loving all the way_  
_Hey-hey-hey_  
_You know I'm the one to take you all the way_  
  
_You know I'm the one to take you all the way_

* * *

  **Messages with: Mandy**

**> >Where the hell are you asshole **

**< <NY. Ian’s. be back next week to pick up my stuff**

**> >You moving out or something?**

**< <Yeah. Wedding’s next week in case you need to buy a dress or whatever**

**> >WEDDING????**

**> >When the fuck did this happen?**

**< <He asked me after the show in NY and I said yes**

**< <I can’t describe how much I love him**

**> >Alright you sappy shit I’ll be there**

* * *

@IanGallagher: For better, for worse. So happy right now 

@fucku-up: @IanGallagher love you

@taylorswift13: @IanGallagher @fucku-up Congrats guys!

@gallavichtrash: @IanGallagher @fucku-up So happy for you both #gallavich

@mandsmilkovich: Couldn’t be happier for my brother @fucku-up and his husband @IanGallagher

@DebsGallagher: can I have a relationship like theirs please #gallavich

@ixngxllxgher: THEY ARE SO IN LOVE IT HURTS #gallavich

@IanGallagherFans: @IanGallagher married his soulmate @fucku-up today. Congrats guys! #gallavich

@gallagherxoxo: #gallavich is relationship goals

@all_the_way: someone be the ian to my mickey? #gallavich

**#gallavich ↗️**

67.7K Tweets

@fucku-up: @IanGallagher apparently we’re trending?? #gallavich

@IanGallagher: Thanks for all the messages, #gallavich is now off on their honeymoon

**Author's Note:**

> Songs:  
> Instrumental introduction: [Sky Dream by Hi-Finesse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8qSPqJD-kw)  
> Ian's song for Mickey: [All The Way by Timeflies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Brmnl29uU)
> 
> hang out with me on [tumblr](http://pllsetskyonice.tumblr.com/) for a questionable mix of fandoms and ships


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